2012 was a very busy year for MMOs and no one game in the genre accomplished more than Guild Wars 2. ArenaNet demonstrated an exhaustive, obsessive attention to detail through its tweaking and reworking of longstanding MMO conventions, the net result of which is a game that's fun because it removes unnecessarily punitive rules. The way Guild Wars 2 rewards you for cooperation and exploration is superb, and the fantastic world design and diverse range of play styles from PvE leveling to PvP arenas to colossal World versus World conflicts ensures there's never a lack of things to do. It's the type of MMO that, after you've experienced it, you start to wonder when everything else will catch up.